Rotary brush



C. G. ROWLAND ROTARY BRUSH Filed June 14, 1950 July 17, 1956 INVENTOR. 1

L lar ncebyeaullsmd United States Patent ROTARY BRUSH Clarence G.Rowland, Newington, C0nn., assignor to The Fuller Brush Company,Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 14, 1950,Serial No. 167,957

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-183) The invention relates to a rotary brush which isparticularly adapted for use on or as a part of a machine for washingautomobiles :or other vehicles, but the invention is not necessarily solimited. The invention may be advantageously embodiedin a brush of thecylindrical type.

A rotary brush for the general purpose stated must have long readilyyieldable fibers, partly to avoid scratching the finish of theautomobile or other vehicle and partly to enable the brush to conform toand properly engage the different surfaces to be washed. It will beapparent, for instance, that a brush used to wash the side of anautomobile must yield to permit the passage of door handles and otherprojections and must also enter depressions, such as those at windows.In order to be sufficiently yieldable the fibers cannot be closelycompacted and spaces must be provided either between individual fibersor at least between groups or layers of fibers.

Fibers sutficiently long to yield, as described, are necessarily veryflexible and, in the absence of special provision, the fibers would flexto such an extent as .to seriously reduce the washing effectiveness ofthe brush. In order .to provide the desired spacing of the fibers whichare primarily effective and in order to properly support the saidfibers, a peculiar fiber arrangement or grouping is provided. The fibersare arranged in layers with the fibers in some of the layers extendingbeyond the rotary supporting or core structure to smaller extents thanthe fibers in other layers.

The layers of shorter fibers are immediately adjacent the layers oflonger fibers, the layers of shorter and longer fibers advantageouslybeing arranged alternately. The fibers in the longer layers areprimarily directly effective for engaging the surfaces to be washed, butthe fibers in the shorter layers may also directly engage some of thesurfaces. The layers of shorter fibers, particularly when arrangedalternately with the layers of longer fibers, serve to space the saidlayers of longer fibers and also serve to support the said layers oflonger fibers to give them an effective stiffness which they would nototherwise have. t

The general object of the invention is to provide a brush, moreparticularly a cylindrical brush, thaving layers of shorter and longerfibers for the .purpose which has been stated.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the drawing andfrom the following description :and claims.

The drawing shows two embodiments of theinvention, but it will beunderstood that various changes may be made from the constructionsshown, and that the drawing is not to be construed as defining orlimiting "the .scope of the invention, the claims forming a part-of.this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawing:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side view'ofaibrush embodying the invention.

2,754,535 Patented July 17, 1956 ice Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionalview taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, the section being taken alongthe line 33 of Fig. 2 and showing only two brush strips.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of one brush strip, thisview also showing a fragment of one supporting disc.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the brush stripclamping devices.

Fig. 6, is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing an alternativeembodiment of the invention.

A brush embodying the invention is rotatable about a central axis. Agenerally cylindrical brush has various advantages and such a brush isillustrated in the drawing, but the invention is not necessarily solimited.

The generally cylindrical shape of the brush is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.The brush has a main supporting structure, and for a cylindrical brushthe rotatable supporting structure is designated as a core structure. Asconcerns the broader aspects of the invention, the core structure can bewidely varied but it may advantageously be constructed as shown in Figs.2 and 3. A central longitudinal shaft 10 is provided, the shaft carryingseveral radially disposed longitudinally spaced discs 11, 11 and 12, 12.The discs are secured to the shaft in any suitable manner, as forinstance by welding as indicated at 1'3, 13. The ends of the shaftproject beyond the brush proper and are adapted to be supported insuitable bearings on the machine with which the brush is to be used. Asshown, the shaft is provided with a slot 14 at one end for engaging asuitable element on the machine to be rotated thereby.

Carried by the core structure are circumferentially .or circumax-iallydistributed layers of brush fibers, the layers being in uniform relationto the axis of rotation and projecting substantially perpendicularlyfrom the supporting or core structure. When the brush is of thecylindrical type, t e "layers of brush fibers extend longitudinally andproject substantiallyv radially. The term fibers is herein used in ageneric sense and is intended to inc-ludevegetable'fibers or syntheticfibers or any other filaments or brush material suitable for theintended purpose.

The outer ends of the fibers in all of a plurality of equally spacedlayers '16,, 16 are in a surface of revolution concentric with the axisof rotation, and as shown the outer ends of the said fibers are at acommon uniform distance from,-the supporting or core structure or fromthe axis of rotation and the outer ends of the fibers in other layers:are at a substantially smaller common uniform distance from thesupporting or core structure or from the axis of rotation. An equalplurality of equally spaced :layers 18., 18 is provided, each of thelast said layers being between two immediately adjacent layers 16, .16.'The outer ends of the fibers in all of the second said layers 18, 18are spaced inwardly and to a substantial extent f-rom the said surfaceof revolution. The longer layers 16, T16 and theshorter layers 18, 18are arranged alternately. The alternately disposed fiber layers "16, 16and '18, 18 are immediately adjacent each other, being ,in contact orapproximately in contact. As shown, the several layers 16, 1,6 and 18,1% are arranged in pairs with the two layers of each --p a-ir in actualcontact. Very small spaces :are shown bet-ween the layers of each pairand .=the layers of the next adjacent pairs.

'The brush is rotatable in a selected direction, as for instance :in thecounterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in .Fig. 2. When thebrush is rotatable as stated,- sorne ot'rthe fibers at the leading sideof each shorter rfiber layer 418 are approximately in contact with someof the fibers at the trailing side of the adjacent longer layer 16. Thusthe fibers in each shorter layer it; support the fibers in the adjacentlonger layer 16.

The fibers of the brush are preferably arranged in brush strips whichare detachably connected with the supporting or core structure. When thebrush is of the cylindrical type, the brush strips extend generallylongitudinally in parallelism with the axis and are circumferentially orcircumaxially spaced. Each individual strip may be provided with one ofthe longer layers 16 and also with one of the shorter layers 18. Thestrips are so positioned that the longer and shorter layers are arrangedalternately, which layers constitute one of the beforementioned pairs.

Each brush strip may advantageously be of the type shown in detail inFig. 4. The strip comprises an elongated channel-shaped metallic holder20 having a wider portion near the rear, and the strip also comprisesfibers 22 looped within the holder which fibers extend around alongitudinal retaining wire 24. The looped fibers 22 provide the twoseparate fiber layers 16 and 18, the fibers in the layer 16 beingrelatively long with their outer ends at a uniform distance from theholder and the fibers in the layer 18 being relatively short with theirouter ends at a substantially smaller distance from the holder.

When the core structure includes discs such as 12, 12, the said discsare provided with circumferentially spaced notches which are shaped toreceive and fit the holders 20 of the several brush strips. The notchesin the several discs are in longitudinal alignment and the holder ofeach brush strip can be moved longitudinally into or out of thecorresponding notches. Inasmuch as the notches fit the holders, thebrush strips are firmly held in their proper positions with the fiberlayers substantially radial.

Suitable means are provided for preventing longitudinal movement of thebrush strips with respect to the core structure. While the invention isnot so limited, each brush strip may be held by two clamping clips 26,26, as shown in Fig. 3, and as more clearly shown in Fig. 5. Each clip26 has a notch in which the holder of the corresponding strip is enteredand each clip has a hole for receiving a stud 28 carried by thecorresponding disc 12. A nut 30 is threaded on each stud 28 and when thenut is tightened, the clip 26 is forced into clamping engagement withthe holder of the corresponding strip. When a brush strip is to beremoved the clamping clips therefor are loosened by backing off thecorresponding nuts.

Under some circumstances it may be desirable to provide a brush havinglayers of fibers with their outer ends at three different distances fromthe supporting or core structure or from the axis of rotation. Such abrush is shown in Fig. 6, and the construction is or may be similar tothat shown in Figs. 1 to 5. The brush shown in Fig. 6 has brush stripssimilar to those previously described and having fiber layers 16, 16 and18, 18. Interposed between some of the said brush strips are other brushstrips having fiber layers 32, 32 substantially shorter than the layers16, 16, that is, the outer ends of the fibers in the layers 32, 32 areat a uniform distance from the supporting or core structure or from theaxis of rotation which is substantially smaller than the correspondingdistance of the outer ends of the fibers in the layers 16, 16. Thestrips provided with the layers 32, 32 may be otherwise similar to thefirst said strips and they may be similarly connected with the corestructure. Preferably the several strips are positioned, as shown, withthe first said strips in pairs and with the second said strips betweenadjacent pairs.

In use the brush as shown in Figs. 1 to is rotated, preferably in thecounterclockwise direction as indicated, and the ends of at least someof the fibers engage all the immediately adjacent surfaces of theautomobile or other vehicle to be washed. The longer flexible fibers inthe layers 16, 16 yield to pass over projecting portions but they havesubstantially endwise engagement with surfaces within depressions, asfor instance at windows. The said longer fibers in the layers 16, 16 Hexto also engage other surfaces. The shorter fibers in the layers 18, 18serve to circumferentially space the layers of the longer fibers andthey also serve at all times to partly support the said longer fibers.

The alternative brush shown in Fig. 6 is particularly useful when theinnermost surfaces to be washed are relatively widely spaced inwardlyfrom the outermost surfaces to be washed. The action is substantiallythe same as already described, but the shortest fibers in the layers 32,32 serve to additionally circumferentially space the longest fibers inthe layers 16, 16 and they also serve to partly support the immediatelyadjacent fibers of intermediate length in the layers 18, 18.

With either the brush shown in Figs. 1 to 5 or the brush shown in Fig.6, the several brush strips can be readily removed and replaced afterwear, it not being necessary to replace the core structure.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a rotary brush, the combination of a supporting structurerotatable about a central axis, and a plurality of circumaxially spacedbrush strips carried by the supporting structure in uniform relation tothe axis thereof each of which includes a metallic holder distinct fromthe supporting structure and extending longitudinally of the strip andalso includes at least one longitudinally extending layer of brushfibers connected with the holder and projecting perpendicularlytherefrom and from the supporting structure, a plurality of the saidfiber layers being equally spaced circumaxially and all of the last saidlayers having the outer ends of their fibers in a single surface ofrevolution concentric with the axis of rotation and a second equalplurality of the said fiber layers being equally spaced circumaxiallyand all of the last said layers having the outer ends of their fibersspaced inwardly and to a substantial extent from the said surface ofrevolution each of which last said layers is located between twoimmediately adjacent layers of the first said plurality and has some ofthe fibers thereof approximately in contact with some of the fibers ineach of said two immediately adjacent layers of said first plurality.

2. In a rotary brush, the combination of a supporting structurerotatable in a selected direction about a central axis, and a pluralityof circumferentially distributed similar brush strips carried by thesupporting structure in uniform relation to the axis thereof each ofwhich brush strips has two layers of brush fibers extendinglongitudinally of the strip and projecting perpendicularly from thesupporting structure, the outer ends of the fibers in the leading layerof each strip of the said plu rality being at a substantially uniformdistance from the supporting structure and the outer ends of the fibersin the trailing layer of the strip of the said plurality being at asubstantially uniform smaller distance from the said supportingstructure and some of the fibers in each said trailing layer beingapproximately in contact with some of the fibers in the leading layer ofthe same strip.

3. In a rotary brush, the combination of a core structure rotatableabout a central longitudinal axis, and a plurality of generallylongitudinal circumferentially distributed similar brush strips carriedby the core structure each of which brush strips has two longitudinallayers of radially projecting brush fibers, the said strips being sorelated that the fiber layers of each strip are approximately in contactwith the fiber layers of the next adjacent strips, and the outer ends ofthe fibers in one layer of each strip being at a substantially uniformdistance from the axis of rotation and the outer ends of the fibers inthe other layer of the strip being at a substantially uniform smallerdistance from the axis of rotation.

4. In a rotary brush, the combination of a core structure rotatableabout a central longitudinal axis, and a plurality of generallylongitudinal circumferentially distributed similar brush strips carriedby the core structure each of which brush strips comprises a channelshaped holder and fibers looped within the holder and projectingradially therefrom in two longitudinal layers, the said strips being sorelated that the fiber layers of each strip are approximately in contactwith the fiber layers of the next adjacent strips, and the outer ends ofthe fibers in one layer of each strip being at a substantially uniformdistance from the holder and the outer ends of the fibers in the otherlayer of the strip being at a substantially uniform smaller distancefrom the said holder.

Spellman Nov. 7, 1871 Isaacs Aug. 8, 1876

